Hi,

Quick question (I hope =P), I've started to create my own webpage (I currently have a filler graphic up on my astasite) and I have something of a file tree on my computer with the various pages and stuff related to it in different folders.

Example (everything on the page is within the main folder, within the other folders are data from other pages and graphics)

Main Folder
*index.html
*graphics
*blah blah blah
*Folder 2
**2nd page
**graphics
**blahblahblah
*Folder 3
**3rd page
**graphics
**blahblahblah
**Folder4
***4th page
***graphics
***blahblahblah


My Question is about the organization of the webpage html files and their graphics, is it better to organize everything within folders and from the pages point to the graphics in the folders, or is it better to upload everything within one folder and point to each file within that one folder.

...as in...if I have three different pages, a main page, a links page and a blog, and the main page links to the links page and the blog page, should all my links/blog graphics be within specific folders, or is it better to keep everthing together and point to the graphics right there instead of creating folders?

Well, I suppose it depends on your personal flavour I personally do it this way.. current directory is public_html.
/images/ <all the graphics of pages in the root folder>
style.css
index.php
about.php
links.php
blah.php

Let's say blah is a page which also offers subsections. then my public_html will look like
/images <all graphics of root folder pages>
style.css
index.php
about.php
links.php
/blah
    [/tab]/images <all images of blah.php and it's subsections>
[tab]blah.php (I use the ../style.css)
    blah2.php

I hope this makes sense LOL.. But that's how I do it It depends on how you feel comfortable. I find this the easiest for myself to have a structure in my mind When I am really into a site, then I even dream in html LOL (NO JOKE!! ok? I am THAT crazy)

It's always better to have your subsections in different folders, because if you ever want to expand your site, it'll be neater and make more sense logically.

Actually, it'll be good if you planned out your site structure before you plunge into designing your site and actually making your site. A good site structure is one where you have a balanced "tree", that means, for example, if I was to have a portfolio site, and I have the subsections of "poetry", "prose" and "art", those would form the first "branches" of the tree. Under each branch, let's say for poetry, I would only have poetry, whereas for "prose" I have stories, lyrics, profiles, snippets, and for art I would have photography, design, websites. Now you see the branches are imbalanced, because my poetry subsection is only one level deep whilst my prose and art sections are two levels deep with several branches offshooting. The idea is to make your subsections logical enough so that you have a nice even tree.

If you plan your site this way you can also control the number of clicks a visitor would need to reach the most inner page. The old traditional number was that a visitor should only need to click three times to get to the page they want. I personally feel it's okay if they click more than three times (though that's a good number to stick to) if you provide interesting content along the way and make your navigation logical.

Now finally back to the topic. If you plan your site structure out this way, you will see that it's common sense to have folders for every subsection and section for your site. In my case, I would have a "prose" folder, and then within the "prose" folder I would have more folders named "stories", "lyrics" and the like. This is because I know I would have around 10+ files in each folder, and it just makes it easier to maintain, instead of having a smattering of files in the main public_html folder with random filenames that I have to click and open to know what is inside. Having folders just make sense if you know you're going to have a complicated or big site, and having them around even when you have a simple site makes expanding the site easier. A good gauge is the number 10. If you know you're going to have more than ten files, you should start to folderise.

That's all my own opinion of course. *wink*

^ verry informative post ^
Helpfull definitely!! I`ll keep all of this in mind comes the time I have time to build myself a decent site.I`ve allready made a simple one tho but I want I nicer looking one eventualy.
Good one chiiyo

hey!

it's all a matter of preference. however, i would strongly recommend that you use folder trees, the way you currently do. that way you can sort images separate from documents, PDFs, and MP3s, etc.

bigredrosen

Thanks for the replies guys, sorry I haven't been on enough to get back to them immediately =S

So folder trees like regular comptuer files, great, one question down, thanks =D

Second question, when I go to upload my files in cpanel, I can't just upload a folder off of my computer that has all my other folders and stuff togehter in it already, can I? As in, say I creat my site completely on my computer, I'm sure all the links work, and everything is in it's place ready to be uploaded. I can't simply upload the "root" folder that all my site branches from, can I? (and if I can't, would a work around be to upload a zip file [wich would be my "root" folder] and then unzip the file to my actual root folder?)

thanks again for your quick replies!

Actually that would really depend on which ftp manager you use. If you use the file manager in cpanel, you would have to create you folders first, and then go into your folder, and then create your subfolders, and then go into your subfolders, and then upload your files. It's kinda tedious, I know. It helps if you already have the structure on your computer, and you can mirror it as you go along.

There are a few ftp managers out there that allow you to haul the entire folder with all it's subfolders and inside pages headlong and just dump it all at the location. I used to use one on the mac platform, rbrowserlite. Not too sure about what ftp managers do that on the windows or linux platform. My current ftp manager Cyberduck doesn't do that either (I think, haven't tried).

I do not think you can upload a zip and open the zip onto the location, if you try opening the zip you would be, in actual fact, downloading the contents onto your own computer.

Having said that, I think it's better if you do it manually and in the long way I mentioned earlier in this post, because that way you can be sure all your files ended up where they should. Having more control over where your files land up. You never know, sometimes your connection might be interrupted along the way and you might lose some files, and if you just dumped the whole folder in you would never know what didn't get uploaded and stuff. Best option that is a compromise in between is be sure to get a ftp manager that allows you to upload multiple files at one go, and then when you hit the subfolder level you can just select all the files and upload.

Good points Chiiyo, I guess it's the long way then =/

Oh well =)

Thanks again for the quick replies guys, much appreciated =D

Personally i would install a CMS and use a template from that rather than manually setting up HTML pages... But you do have the right idea about how to organize a static site...

Good luck then m3ch4.... to madcrow, I used to want to use a CMS, but somehow I've always felt it's just better to code the website by hand and then upload it... For me customizing the CMS to produce pages the way I want them to look would have taken even more time than to actually code them... that's probably why I still end up manually coding my pages... and manually blogging.... and manually creating my own rss feeds after so long... =_=... *heh*